


Best Laid Plans

by satonawall (forgetmequite)



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Getting Together, M/M, POV Alternating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-31
Updated: 2017-12-31
Packaged: 2019-02-25 19:50:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13219989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forgetmequite/pseuds/satonawall
Summary: “You didn’t RSVP,” Izzy said with a lop-sided smile. “But I figured that was just you being busy.”“Sorry,” he said. Things at work were always hectic around the end of the year, but that was no excuse. “It must have slipped my mind.”“It’s okay.” Izzy’s look changed, and Alec had just the time to realise he should be wary before she said, “Any word on a plus one?Alec completely messes up asking Magnus out, but it works out quite well in the end.





	Best Laid Plans

**Author's Note:**

> This is a cautionary tale about what happens when you completely change your plot halfway through writing, but on the upside, Malec can now join Finnrey in the 'couple's healthy communication foils planned fake-dating plot' hall of fame.
> 
> Also my New Year's resolution is to write less (cheap jokes about) Clary and Jace, and more Malec interacting with my other faves.

“And Simon said Maia’s bringing Bat.”

Alec blinked. “Should I know who that is?”

He would gladly let Izzy plan her holiday party out loud to him. That didn’t mean he actually knew who a lot of her guests were. Simon had always been, to put it kindly, unforgettable (although the degree of irritation Alec used to say that with had decreased with time), and obviously he knew Maia, she was always a delight to talk to, unlike some other people who were basically Luke’s daughter that he could mention.

“Maia’s boyfriend,” Izzy said. “I think. Don’t use that word around them, I don’t know if they have. It’s pretty new. But I met them on Wednesday, they make a cute couple.”

Alec nodded, and Izzy went back to her guest list.

“Luke wasn’t quite sure if he could make it, he’s swamped at work, but he promised to at least make an appearance when I said Mum would be there.” The shared a grin before Izzy went back to her list. “Jace and Clary, of course. You. You’re coming, right?”

Alec sat up straighter. “Yeah. Didn’t I-”

“You didn’t RSVP,” Izzy said with a lop-sided smile. “But I figured that was just you being busy.”

“Sorry,” he said. Things at work were always hectic around the end of the year, but that was no excuse. “It must have slipped my mind.”

“It’s okay.” Izzy’s look changed, and Alec had just the time to realise he should be wary before she said, “Any word on a plus one? Because I was just talking to David, and he was not so subtly asking about you, so I thought maybe I could set you two up.”

“Don’t.”

It came out sharp, sharper than ‘He’s just not my type’ would have required, but Izzy knew him well.

“Why?”

“I-“ Because he’s not the one of your co-workers that I have a crush on, and I’ve only recently felt comfortable enough in myself to even try to date and just need a moment to get my bearings before potentially making a fool out of myself in front of the most amazing man in the world. “I already have a date.”

Wow. Somehow he’d managed to survive six years in the army without shooting himself in the foot, but civilian life broke him in just over three.

Izzy’s eyes widened, but not quite as much as her smile. “You do! Who?”

Think fast, Lightwood.

His mouth spoke for him before his brain could even start. There had been just one man in his mind for some months, anyway.

“Magnus.”

If possible, Izzy’s smile got even wider. “Oh my god, you finally stopped pining and asked him out!”

Alec couldn’t help his huffy tone. “I wasn’t pining.”

That, at least, was true. It wasn’t pining if he’d just been trying to wrap his head around the concept of actually having a shot at getting a date, let alone a relationship, with someone he wanted those things with.

Izzy laughed. “Sure thing, big brother.”

“I’m serious,” he said and then, because he’d never learnt how to not immediately double down on his own conversational mistakes, “It’ll be our first date, don’t scare him off.”

Izzy’s smile grew softer. “Don’t worry,” she said. “He loves me.”

He did, Alec thought as the conversation steadily returned back to Izzy’s party-planning. They hadn’t known Magnus for a very long time, although the coincidence that it was about as long as Clary Fray had been in Alec’s life made the time feel longer than it was in reality. But Magnus had certainly struck up a fast and easy friendship with Izzy, even getting her an internship at the company he worked for.

As for Alec... Most of the time when he and Magnus met, it was to clean up Clary and Jace’s messes. Saving Jace from himself had been the bane of Alec’s existence for as long as he could remember, and initially he’d thought introducing Clary into the equation would finally do him in. But, miraculously, it turned out that what Jace and Clary had in common was reliable people to call in trouble. As far as Alec understood, Magnus was Clary’s former neighbour and Luke’s old friend. How someone like him still answered Clary’s calls was beyond Alec, but since that was how he’d initially met Magnus, Alec couldn’t bring himself to mind.

They had- What they had on the surface was probably just mutual annoyance and a tacit quid pro quo agreement to listen to each other’s complaints about their respective wayward associates. But Alec knew he wasn’t kidding himself when he thought there was actual intent behind Magnus’s flirting, and well. If the first proper look at Magnus hadn’t already captivated Alec, the first time Magnus smiled at him and meaningfully rolled his eyes at whatever mess had been happening around them surely would have done the trick.

What it all came down to, Alec thought as he said goodbye to Izzy and started for home, was that left to his own devices, he probably would have asked Magnus out for real sooner rather than later.

If he’d only been just a little faster, he might have quite simply avoided this whole ridiculous situation altogether.

With that cheery thought, he slammed the door to his flat closed after himself a little harder than he’d meant to.

This was so below what Magnus deserved. From Alec, or from anyone, really. Magnus talked a big game about only doing what he enjoyed and demanding only the best for himself, and no doubt that was true (Alec had been to Magnus’s place once and he didn’t know much about decor but Magnus’s was exquisite, in addition to expensive), but... He’d helped Izzy with the internship when he barely even knew her, and Alec couldn’t even begin to list all the things Magnus had done for Clary when their relationship literally boiled down to ‘they used to live in the same building many years ago and he’s friends with her dad’. And that didn’t even touch on the compassionate understanding on Magnus’s eyes when Jace had tactlessly brought up the fact that Alec wasn’t talking to their father anymore. Someone (not Alec) might find fault with Magnus’s inflated ego or his unapologetic flamboyance bordering on hedonism, but no well-informed person could deny that he was kind and caring and generous, and when Alec’s daydreams got away from him a little too much, they’d been filled with making sure Magnus received as much care as he gave away.

Asking him on a first date that would really only be a favour for Alec certainly did not fit that picture.

With an audible grumble, he pulled out his phone. It was early evening; Magnus could easily still be at work, and Alec didn’t want to bother him with a call if that was the case.

Fuck, he hated being yet another overgrown kid who went crawling to Magnus for an easy fix to a mess he’d created. He hadn’t had a proper action plan regarding Magnus, but even so, this definitely wasn’t in it.

If only he’d had the presence of mind to tell Izzy that he wanted to ask out Magnus but hadn’t managed to do it yet, and he wouldn’t be having this problem. Apparently years of studying military strategy did nothing to improve his romantic pre-planning: the situation was exactly as foolish and exactly as avoidable as the one he’d got himself into as a teenager when a momentary lapse in judgement had made up a Jessica Hawkblue and led into an awkward month of trying to act like he was dating a girl he couldn’t bring home to his sister.

Except this time was worse, because there was no way he could clear himself of this without having to rely on Magnus’s help. As if Magnus didn’t have enough on his plate already.

 _Hi, can we talk ASAP?_ he typed. _I need to ask you something. PS don’t talk to Izzy before pls._

How typical of Alec to somehow manage to ruin the moment of finally asking Magnus out for himself, he thought as he pressed send.  
  


\---  
  


Magnus certainly wasn’t the type of older man who thought that young women he happened to know would be better off without dating anyone until they got married at thirty. That said, he’d known the second Clary told him about Jace Herondale that Clary would be better off without him.

There was no conflict between the two sentiments. Clary had told him about Jace in a phone call, the main substance of which was that they were stranded in New Jersey without any money, mode of transportation or friends nearby, and she knew it was three am on a workday, but would Magnus mind figuring out a way to get them back home?

It wasn’t that Clary had never got herself into trouble before Jace, but in a pre-Jace world, those troubles had mostly been about being presumptuous about Magnus’s willingness to help her get her hands on rare art supplies, model for her artwork on very short notice or allow his house to be turned into a concert venue for her friend Simon’s band, et cetera. Taxing, certainly, and unreasonable, but not taxing, unreasonable _and_ potentially life-threatening. Magnus had always had a soft spot for Clary ever since he’d met her as a little girl who desperately missed her mother. Seeing that sad child desperately clutching a box of crayons in the entryway to his building had hit a little too close to home, and he’d always vaguely wanted to make sure that Clary could have a little easier time working herself out than he had had himself. But even Magnus had his limits.

The only point in Jace Herondale’s favour that Magnus was willing to grant was that he had somehow managed to get blessed with absolutely delightful siblings.

Magnus had first met Isabelle at Clary’s birthday party, and what was supposed to be a quick admiring comment about her boots had turned into a long conversation about her Master’s thesis in biochemistry that related a little on the work Magnus had, once upon a time, done for his doctorate. When some time later he’d heard that Isabelle was looking for an internship, he’d been all too happy to put in a good word with his boss, and although she didn’t work in his department, it was always pleasant to chat with her in the break room.

And then there was Alec.

Their first meeting had been under less than ideal circumstances, which was to say that it had been precipitated by Clary and Jace. It seemed that when trouble found them, Clary called Magnus (assuming it was the sort of trouble she didn’t want to own up to Luke about) and Jace called Alec. Consequently, the first glimpse at Alec he’d ever got was a truly impressive glare aimed at Jace and a few sharp words that (it sounded self-centred but Magnus would swear it was true) melted into a stunning, wide smile as Alec’s gaze shifted from Jace to Magnus. That smile alone would have been enough to fuel Magnus’s imagination for many nights to come.

That it turned out that Alec had a healthy amount of common sense and also laughed at Magnus’s jokes certainly didn’t hurt, either.

Nevertheless, Magnus had told himself sternly if not very convincingly that it was a superficial infatuation that would at best last one night of real anything. And since it seemed unlikely that they’d stop meeting like this, at least as long as Clary and Jace’s whatever lasted, it was better just- not to.

He still hadn’t managed to heal his heart from Camille, Magnus had told himself. It was all around the sensible thing to do to limit his interaction with Alec to lingering looks and shared eye rolls.

And then Clary and Jace had somehow managed to have a hiking accident and get buried under a rock avalanche without even leaving New York.

Luke had been out of town, and Magnus had known it had to be serious when it was his number, not Clary’s, flashing on his screen past midnight. In a panic, Clary had called his father despite Luke being on a business trip, and much as he’d have wanted to, Luke couldn’t get from LA to New York in a second. Magnus was- Well, he’d had a long day and he’d been really looking forwards to a weekend of rewinding, but he could hear the thinly-veiled panic in Luke’s voice even through the phone lines. Much as he sometimes hoped he could, he simply wasn’t the type of person who could put on his cucumber mask and relax when one of his best friends was trying to deal with an emergency right down the street.

He’d spent the whole night in the hospital with Clary and Jace, joined by Isabelle who was the only Lightwood in town that weekend. After a seemingly interminable wait at the ER, and then several other stressful waiting periods, it turned out that they were both going to be fine, although they would be kept for observation for some time. Magnus thought begrudgingly that it would take more than a few rocks to get through Jace’s thick skull, even if he didn’t voice the thought out to Isabelle, who kept looking at her brother like he was in a coma instead of just asleep.

The following afternoon brought with it not only the final clearance on Clary and Jace’s release, but also right around the same time Maryse Lightwood and Alec, who’d been on a weekend trip to- Magnus didn’t even know, he had the vague impression it had something to do with finalising Maryse’s divorce and providing moral support, by the time he thought to ask Isabelle they were both half-delirious from the lack of sleep and the stress. Whatever had kept them away, they’d certainly used the time to plot strategy: Maryse had a car waiting to take Jace and Isabelle home, and an agreement with Luke (due to land in New York at any moment) to take Clary with them as well so that Luke could meet them all at Maryse’s. Magnus did the maths silently on the number of seats and also on his own lack of relation to anyone, and was in the progress of making a discreet exit after helping to fit Clary and Jace and their respective crutches in the backseat when, to his surprise, Alec walked up to him instead of getting in the car, and Maryse waved him goodbye before pulling out of the parking lot.

“When’s the last time you ate?” Alec had asked. “Or slept?”

Magnus remembered blinking, too exhausted for evasion. “I have some very cold take-out waiting for me on my living room table.”

Alec smiled. “Let me get you home. We can pick up something along the way.”

Magnus would have protested, but he wasn’t a saint; he had no idea how Alec had looked at the situation and decided that his efforts were best spent taking care of Magnus, but he wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

“There’s a great Ethiopian restaurant just around the corner from my place,” he said, and there they stopped. Alec made him eat a good chunk of Alec’s food as well, kept filling up Magnus’s glass of water and, Magnus assumed from the distant clattering of dishware, was in the process of washing Magnus’s dishes when Magnus finally got to his bed and was drifting off to sleep.

He woke up in the morning to find Alec making pancakes in Magnus’s kitchen, looking like he’d caught a few hours of sleep on the sofa, and his own battered heart hopeful like it hadn’t been for years.

That had been a few weeks ago, and aside from a quick meeting to find all the paperwork necessary to file Jace’s taxes (off all the damned things; sometimes Magnus considered moving to a new address, changing his number and never telling Clary either one), they hadn’t seen each other.

Which of course shouldn’t have meant that Magnus would be sitting at home when he had every reason to be celebrating his recent work-related success, watching Alec’s number in his contacts like he expected it to turn into the man himself, but the world worked in mysterious ways.

In his defence, he’d been up to his ears in work stuff to pull off the afternoon’s meeting, and this was the first time this had happened. Plus, he was going to make the call in a few seconds, and taking the time to think things through before asking someone out was a smart thing to do.

His phone buzzed right as Magnus had reminded himself that he had nothing to lose from one date.

Speak of the devil.

Magnus raised an eyebrow at the text; it wasn’t something he’d expected to get from Alec. As it happened, it also fairly well ruined his plans for the evening; you couldn’t quite respond to an urgent message about talking with, _Sure, and also by the way do you want to go out with me?_

 _I’m free now if you wanted to meet up_ , he wrote. _And also very curious. Can you come over?_

As Alec typed his agreement, Magnus sat back on his chair and allowed himself one very long sigh before reaching for his best whiskey. This certainly had not been the sort of meeting he’d hoped to settle on with Alec tonight.

 

\---

 

Alec took a few deep breaths before ringing Magnus’s buzzer, and a few more as he waited behind Magnus’s door for him to open it.

The did very little to help him prepare for the sight of Magnus in a well-tailored shirt with a tie loosened and the uppermost buttons open, revealing a tantalising hint of toned chest. He looked like a high-powered businessman who’d just checked into his hotel a few minutes before and god, Alec wanted to have asked him out _months_ ago, wanted them to be something that would allow him to just-

“Alexander,” Magnus said sweetly as he moved to let Alec in, and Alec forced those thoughts away from the forefront of his mind.

“Hi.” His mouth felt dry. “Tha-thanks for seeing me. I hope you- I hope I didn’t interrupt your work or anything.”

Magnus made a sweeping gesture with his tumbler of whiskey. Of course he had been drinking whiskey, Alec could just imagine him sprawled out in one of his ridiculously comfortable armchairs-

Anyway.

“Not at all,” Magnus was saying. “I had an important research grant meeting this afternoon, you know how it is trying to impress unimaginative people, but after that, I’ve been quite free to enjoy my success. Please, take a seat.”

That explained the suit. But also-

“I take it went well.” Alec smiled at him as he sat down opposite Magnus and tried not to think about his earlier mental images about the armchairs. “Congrats.”

“Thank you.” Magnus took a sip of his whiskey and fiddled with his ear. “But you didn’t come here to talk about research funding, I assume.”

“I- No.” He evaded eye contact, but his gaze drifted very soon back to Magnus anyway. “You’re coming to Izzy’s party this Saturday, right?”

Magnus made a motion to swirl the whiskey in his tumbler before realising it was empty. “Yes. Looking forwards to it.”

“Great. I- I meant to ask if you wanted to go together. As a date. And I- uh, already told Izzy you said yes.”

 

\---

 

“It slipped, she was trying to set me up with someone. Sorry,” Alec finished, his gaze settling somewhere around Magnus’s knees.

Magnus didn’t know what his face was showing, but he could only hope it was not the full scale of feelings he was experiencing. Excitement and joy, and a flicker of something he shouldn’t even be contemplating yet, quickly mingled with deflation and uncertainty as Alec finished speaking.

Do you actually want it to be a real date, was what he most wanted to ask. But asking that meant candidly offering a part of his heart with no guarantee that it would be accepted, and that was hard to do casually while retaining the possibility to slip back behind a mask of nonchalance if it was rejected.

It was simply a question of how much he was willing to risk for Alec.

Alec was still sitting rigid in his chair, uncomfortable. Waiting for judgement, Magnus thought with a sinking heart.

 “No need to be, Alexander,” he said, certain he could hear his own heartbeat and afraid Alec might, as well. “Just out of curiosity, were you already planning on this before Isabelle’s... assistance?”

To his surprise, Alec laughed. “Not the party. Mixing my sister and my love life didn’t seem like a good idea.”

Magnus’s heart beat even faster. It was not certainty, but the implication was there.

Alec leaned forwards, awkwardness swept away by the earnestness and care. “This isn’t how I wanted to ask you out, I was planning on something nice, not a favour to get me out of trouble. I understand if you don’t want to, you deserve much better.”

Hope unfurled in Magnus’s chest, spreading through him lightning fast and growing into certainty as Alec finished talking, his sincere eyes still on Magnus.

It didn’t seem like such a big risk when Alec had already walked half the distance and was offering his hand for Magnus to take.

“If you really wanted to make it up to me,” he said, feeling lighter than he’d felt walking out a winner from his big meeting that afternoon and grinning at the way Alec sat up, listening attentively, “you could always take me on a different date. The one you were planning on.”

A radiant smile broke out over Alec’s face, and Magnus wouldn’t really have needed his words to get a response.

“Magnus, would you like to go out with me?”

Magnus couldn’t bring himself to restrict his own smile. “That sounds lovely, Alexander, I certainly would.”

“Great.” Alec seemed dazed, like he could barely believe this was happening. “Are you free tonight?”

Magnus blinked; he’d- Well, he’d kind of assumed that they’d pick a time after Isabelle’s party, but on the other hand...

“As it happens, I am. What did you have in mind?”

Alec smiled again, somehow awkward and hot at the same time, and for a second, Magnus sincerely hoped his plans would amount to Netflix and chill.

Then again, he didn’t exactly mind when Alec said, “The Ethiopian place we got take-out from was great. Would you like to get dinner there?”

“Of course.” Magnus set down his tumbler; it felt like ages ago that he’d been drinking and looking at his phone, thinking about getting to do this very thing. “Just let me get changed first.”

 

\---

 

Alec had seen Magnus in various different types of clothes before: hastily put on outfits for coming to save Jace and Clary in the middle of night, the pyjamas he’d walked out of bed in when night Alec had stayed over, the half-discarded formal suit Alec had just seen him in.

This one – a burgundy vest over a dress shirt with sleeves that could barely contain Magnus’s biceps, with black trousers and intricate rings – was his new favourite, though, mostly because of how pleased Magnus had seemed at the awe in Alec’s tone as he stuttered over a compliment when Magnus emerged from his bedroom ready to go.

And maybe, as Alec let himself hope when he got the chance to admire the whole ensemble as the waiter showed them to a table, because it was entirely possible that Magnus had been thinking about impressing Alec when choosing it. If he had, he’d succeeded beyond expectations. If that was even possible given that Alec had already been plenty impressed by Magnus in general.

They made small talk about the food and ordered, and Alec asked a little more about the grant Magnus had managed to secure for work. After that, they lapsed into a comfortable silence that ended when Magnus started smiling, a wide, breath-takingly beautiful grin.

Alec looked at him and knew he didn’t look like a man on a first date. “What?”

“Nothing much,” Magnus said, still smiling. “I just started wondering how you managed to get yourself into such a situation with Isabelle to begin with.”

Alec groaned and explained, all the way back to Jessica Hawkblue.

“It worked out fine, though,” he said, trying to find something to move on from his embarrassment, “I mean, it got me here with you.”

Under the table, Magnus’s foot nudged against Alec’s for a second before pulling away. Without thinking, Alec chased after it, letting his foot rest against Magnus’s. Magnus didn’t move his foot away, and Alec’s heart soared like he was a teenager on a first date.

“To be honest-“ Magnus began, only to be interrupted by the waiter bringing their plates.

“You were saying?” Alec asked once they had their food in front of them.

“To be honest, I almost saved you the whole ordeal.” Magnus picked up a piece from his plate. “When I got your text, I was just picking up my phone to see if I could interest you in a date.”

Alec’s whole body shook with the force of his laughter, and it felt like an eternity until they could both keep a straight face again.

“For the record,” Alec said, not quite being able to reach across the table to take Magnus’s hand but still resting his foot against Magnus’s, “I would have loved to get that call.”

Magnus’s smile was unexpectedly soft. “Some other day.”

It sounded like a promise. Alec couldn’t wait to see Magnus keep it.

 

\---

 

The dinner was lovely. Magnus’s evening had been an emotional rollercoaster ever since Alec’s text, but by the time they finished their deserts, it had securely settled into pleasant post-outing loveliness. It seemed that the more he learnt about Alec, the more his initial highly positive judgement got confirmed. There were sparks flying between them, but also moments of calm comfort that held a promise of longevity. It had been a good long while since Magnus had felt both with the same person, and his hopeless heart felt like jumping into both head first. By the way Alec was looking at him, at turns heated promise and tender care in his eyes, Magnus dared to assume that Alec shared the sentiment.

“Would you like to come up for a while?” he asked as they left the restaurant.

Alec beamed at him like he didn’t want the evening to end either. “Sure.”

Magnus wasn’t quite sure how it happened; he was sure he’d been telling Alec something, a story with some embellishment, at least at some point on the way up.

But how that had turned into pinning Alec against his living room wall and heated kisses that were likely to give Alec beard burn, Magnus had no idea.

For that matter, he didn’t particularly care either. And going by his joyful laughter and eager hands, neither did Alec.

He didn’t know how long that lovely bubble existed, and he didn’t know what burst it. But suddenly the hot feeling of want gave away to cold dread of- He didn’t even know, just the fear that while for him this might be the amazing start to something beautiful, maybe for Alec the whole thing could be condensed into one night that would end with an awkward morning and an even more painful forced second date at Isabelle’s party. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d misread such a situation.

Magnus only realised he’d gone tense and immobile when Alec’s warmth pulled slightly away from him and Alec looked at him with concern in his eyes.

“You okay?”

“Yes.” Magnus forced his voice into cheerfulness. It wasn’t exactly an incentive for further dates to be so maudlin after the first one. “Maybe we should slow down a little.”

Alec gave him a quizzical look, and Magnus realised his hand was still eagerly grasping at Alec’s chest. He removed it quickly.

For a moment, there was nothing but empty space between them, and Magnus could already see it expanding in his mind’s eye into an unbridgeable void that would be finalised by Alec literally closing the door on him.

And then Alec reached out, first touching Magnus’s elbow and letting his hand slide down until he took Magnus’s hand in his.

“Of course, if you want. I just- I figured we were on the same page about this.”

Alec’s eyes were open and honest, and Magnus could clearly see the confusion there at Magnus’s sudden change of gears. For a second, Magnus wanted nothing more than to go back to escalating what they’d been doing and let the consequences sort themselves out later.

“Trust me, we certainly were. I’m-” he turned his hand to change Alec’s gentle hold on his hand into proper handholding, “merely afraid that if we rush into this, we might inadvertently ruin it.”

If he’d expected Alec to react badly to his concerns, he was in for a surprise. Alec’s face cleared, his happy smile returning, as if he’d just needed Magnus to name the problem in order to solve it.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he said, placing his other hand on Magnus’s bicep. “I want to stay and see where this goes and make you pancakes in the morning again now that I know where you keep the milk in your fridge. Or I can go now and wait until tomorrow to text you about this cool dog I always see during my morning jog and ask if you’re free for drinks after work. But either way, I’ll be here. I want to be with you.”

It was a speech thoroughly unsuited for any first date. Magnus couldn’t care less; it did its job, Alec’s whole sincere demeanour a sufficient guarantee that he really meant it.

“And for what it’s worth,” Alec added, “I’ve been thinking about this, us, for months now, so it’s not exactly rush-“

Magnus had no scruples about shutting him up with a kiss, and if Alec’s laughing response was anything to go by, neither did he.

 

Magnus woke up to the feeling of being watched, his memory bringing up the previous evening quickly enough that he could comfortably burrow against the warm weight next to him in the bed without even opening his eyes.

“Morning.”

“Morning,” Alec said, and Magnus’s brain finally woke up as well. Before he could feel awkward or too clingy (in the most literal sense), Alec added, “I was thinking of making those pancakes once you wake up, but I don’t really want to leave this bed right now.”

Magnus didn’t really want him to leave either, not even to the kitchen, but he opened one eye to look at Alec anyway.

“You did promise you would make them.”

“I did.” Alec shifted a little, now looking at Magnus more directly. “Do you have to go somewhere this morning?”

Magnus raised his head to peer at the clock on his nightstand. It was barely seven in the morning. He really had brought a man home after a first date and gone to sleep before midnight. With absolutely no regrets.

“Ten,” he said. “After yesterday no one’s going to say anything if I don’t show up to work on time, but I can’t miss that progress meeting.”

Half an hour later, they were still lying in bed, limbs entangled. Half an hour after that, Alec walked back into the bedroom with a tray piled with a fresh stack of pancakes.

 

\---

 

“Sooo,” Izzy said, appearing at Alec’s side. They hadn’t had a chance to talk that much during the party, Izzy too busy playing the perfect hostess. “I don’t want to pry, but I happened to walk past you two and that mistletoe action looked like you’re definitely going on a second date.”

“It’s-“ Alec lost his words as Magnus came back from the drinks table with his glass newly topped, probably just in time to have heard Izzy’s comment.

“It’ll be more like the fourth date,” Magnus said, “by my count.”

Izzy smiled at them, kind of like she was going to follow up with both of them separately to get the best gossip, but mostly like she was happy for them.

“It’ll be the fifth,” Alec said once she was off to mingle again. “This is the fourth.”

Magnus furrowed his brow, as if mentally counting. “Wednesday doesn’t really count.”

“It does!”

“Does not.” Magnus’s eyes sparkled, and it might have been Izzy’s delicious punch that Magnus had praised profusely, but it was more likely that his eyes just did that sometimes. “Your company was delightful, but it was not a date.”

Alec’s first instinct was to argue his point, but that approach would have been doomed to lose to Magnus’s amazing quick wit.

“I guess we’ll just have to go on so many dates we lose count,” he said instead. “That’ll solve that problem.”

Magnus blinked and looked away, as if trying to hide his eyes when he certainly couldn’t hide the beautiful wide smile Alec’s words had brought on his face. Alec had only really noticed how close to the vest Magnus played it with his feelings this week they’d been together, and it always made his heart skip a happy beat to realise he’d managed to say exactly what Magnus needed to hear.

“I guess we’ll have to,” Magnus said, his voice soft. “Excellent planning, Alexander.”


End file.
